"Dintin" De Bruyne bid farewell to Etihad, Manchester City will make his statue

The man that "Blue Moon" fans trust most is leaving.

De Bruyne has played for Manchester City for ten years, and now this is his 142nd and final Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium.

Early in the morning of May 21, Belgian superstar Kevin De Bruyne performed well in Manchester City's last home game of the season, beating Bournemouth 3-1, approaching qualifying for the Champions League next season. Both sides finally fought with ten people.

With this victory, Manchester City basically qualified for the Champions League next season. Score poster source: Manchester City Football Club X Official Account

Manchester City was upset by London suburban team Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final last weekend. They urgently need to defeat the "Cherry Legion" to ensure they enter the top five Premier League (Champions League threshold) in this bad season.

They did it.

After winning this game, Guardiola's team temporarily ranked third in the Premier League standings with 68 points. Before the final round of the season away against Fulham this Sunday, they were in a good position. As long as they scored another point, Manchester City would be enough to return to the Champions League, the highest-level league of European clubs. Before the game, fans played a giant Tifo in the stands, calling De Bruyne "King Kevin".

De Bruyne, nicknamed "Tintin" by fans, ushered in a moving farewell ceremony at the Etihad Stadium - this moment even made head coach Guardiola cry, calling it a "sad day." The 33-year-old Belgian midfielder will be recorded in history as a Manchester City legend. The club announced that it would build a statue for De Bruyne off the court and said he would be "forever here."

Rodri, the 2024 Golden Globe winner and Manchester City midfielder who was missing for 240 days due to a torn cruciate ligament (ACL) on his right knee, finally made a comeback and made a substitute in this game.

When everyone's eyes were focused on De Bruyne's last game at the Etihad Stadium, Rodri, who returned from injury, also received warm cheers. The last time he played at home was in September last year.

Egyptian striker Marmush made a world wave and made the first contribution to Manchester City's victory.

In the 14th minute, forward Omar Marmush scored a wonderful 30-yard shot for Manchester City, and the ball flew into the net against the post. De Bruyne smelled the hope of scoring, and Marmush passed the ball to De Bruyne a few yards away, who should have scored, but to the surprise of all the spectators, De Bruyne somehow tackled the ball to the crossbar.

In the 38th minute, Bernardo Silva scored the second goal. Manchester City exposed the weakness of the defensive line between the two goals, and Evanielson made a cross and hit the post.

Nico Gonzalez, who came on the bench, scored the third goal for Manchester City in the 89th minute, which was also his first goal in the Premier League. Although Dan Jebison won a final goal, the loss also ended Bournemouth's hopes of advancing to the European game next season.

Both sides have players who received red cards, Matteo Kovacic was sent off for pulling Evanielson, and Lewis Cook was also expelled for saving and hitting Gonzalez.

Since Guardiola became Manchester City coach in the summer of 2016, the team has maintained a complete victory in all seasons at home in the Premier League. After the game, Etihad Stadium held a home farewell ceremony for De Bruyne. The documentary of "King Kevin" was played on the big screen on the scene, and his teammates lined up to welcome De Bruyne to enter the venue again with his wife, two sons and one daughter.

De Bruyne's family waved goodbye to the home fans. At the home farewell ceremony held after the game, teammates lined up to welcome captain De Bruyne to enter the court again. De Bruyne said emotionally: "My career in Manchester is like a dream. My three children were all born in Manchester. My heart will always belong to Manchester City."

Teammates threw De Bruyne into the air. After the ceremony, Haaland and other teammates surrounded De Bruyne in the center and threw the midfield commander into the air.

Nanjing Daily/Zhuangshan News Editor Zhou Zhe